Thomas Brown

Professor Maendhart
English 1050
It is unfortunate that today I have the opportunity to speak about
discrimination based on ethnicity. All throughout history the world has seen
countless times of discrimination based on how they are different from us but
the United States is supposed to be different. Has a country built by
immigrants for immigrants it is supposed to be accepting of other peoples
differences and yet it is not. To quote Frederick Douglass from his speech,
On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes,
entirely hostile to the existence of slavery. (474). The very bases of our
country are freedom and there has been much struggle to make it so. But it
is still a work in progress. Throughout this article I will present evidence to
support this statement based upon the education system, the work place
and within the immigration system.
To start with I would like to talk about the English programs with in the
education system. Gloria Anzaldua tells us in How to Tame a Wild Tongue, If
you want to be American, speak American. If you dont like it, go back to
Mexico where you belong. (521) This of course is the mild portion. Within
the school system students are expected to respond a specific way to a
variety of questions based off of the teachers political preferences. For
example, Min-Zhan Lu is a first generation immigrant to the United States

and is bilingual, speaking Chinese at home only. In the article From Silence
to Words: Writing as Struggle, I am especially concerned with the way some
composition classes focus on turning the classroom into a monological scene
for the students reading and writing. (156) In this quote Min-Zhan Lu is
speaking about what she has noticed between both her own education has
an English Major and her daughters education.
To point out obvious historic examples of discrimination include
Chinese exclusion from photos showing who built the railroad and Japanese
battalions valiant efforts against Germany during World War 2. While it is not
quite has prevalent today has been in the past discrimination is still taking
place in the business world. For example, financial advisors in the US are
expected to be white and male. The industry hires so has to maintain this
monopoly and it is only just starting to change. Within Silicon Valley there is
also discrimination has at least one colored women has written although it is
not has prevalent has it was some years ago.
Within the immigration system in the history of the US, there was a
great deal of discrimination mostly based on how you were likely to vote. For
example there were several Irish immigration acts that were specifically
created to keep Democratic-Republicans from overtaking the Whig party.
Other examples historically include Ellis Island and Angel Island. On their
respective coasts both of these Islands forced immigrants to stay in cramped

quarters and to choose only the very best of the bunch. It was noted on both
Islands that the immigrants were treated has less than human.
Some individuals have a more positive outlook than others. President
Obama noted in his 2008 speech A More Perfect Union that the words of a
respected reverend were both pessimistic and would only tear the nation
apart more than it already was. In fact President Obama went on in this
selfsame speech to point out how things are not has the reverend had said.
Talking about some of the individuals he has had the opportunity to work
with he relates the story of Ashley. Ashley was a victim of unfortunate
circumstances and individuals only being concerned with the bottom line.
She set out to help change that. Because her story was unusual she once
spent a little time asking those that were working with her why they were
doing such. Most of the responses were for very specific grievances. The one
that has stuck around was that he was there to help her. No other reason did
he give and that is one aspect that President Obama pushes in the last
moments of his speech. Of course he isnt the only one to present the fact
that people are willing to help each other and the idea that has long as
people are willing to work together for the benefit of others then our future is
a bright one indeed. In the very first week of English 1050 it was noted by
Jade Dockstader that hearing a positive story from some one that has faced
difficulties in the past helps her to be positive in her own situation.

Thankfully things have come quite a way from when Frederick

Douglass spoke of slavery to the American public. Since then we have seen
the passage of amendments to the laws of the land allowing AfricanAmericans and Women to vote with all of the same protections that white
males have when voting. Unfortunately there are still stereotypes being
presented all over in media and even within the education system. Barack
Obama says in his A More Perfect Union, But it is where we start. It is where
our union grows stronger. I would like to point out that has there is room to
work one thing we can work on is Slum Tourism. Kennedy Odede wrote from
his own perspective has some one that lived in Slum conditions and suffered
the humiliation of being a person on display, People think theyve really
seen something- than they go back to their lives and leave me, my family
and my community right where we were before. (519) Therefore I ask what
do you think of Slum Tourism and would you be willing to speak against it?
In closing I would like to say that English 1050 as opened up my eyes
to ethnic discrimination in a way that I had not previously thought of it. To
speak frankly I thought it was an excuse to receive special treatment. Ive
heard people say theyve been discriminated against before and people point
towards Trump saying that he is racist constantly. I unfortunately paid little
attention to it since any arguments proving that an individual had been
discriminated against were simply riddled with flaws or like with Trump an
attention getting tactic for the news. Reading through this I find my previous
thoughts to be poorly educated and poorly thought through. Therefore I

wonder how many others have been as poorly educated of the way things
really are has I have allowed myself to be. Thankfully for my lack of
understanding there is a cure and that cure was knowledge. Knowing that
racism really is still a thing gives humanity a tool to use against it. After all it
only takes a moment to teach the next generation that discriminating
against people because of their skin color or heritage is wrong and that small
action can have a very lasting impact. Has with everything there is more
work to be done but there is hope for the future has long has we all strive to
be more than we are today.

Bibliography:
Anzaldua, Gloria. How to Tame a Wild Tongue. 1987. book .
Contee, Cheryl. "What I Learned as a Black Person Working in Silicon Valley."
Huffington Post (2016). Web.
Douglass, Fredrick. What to the Slave is the Fouth of July? New York, 1852. Oratory .
Lu, Min-Zhan. From Silence to Words: Writing as Struggle. College English, 1987.
Article.
MacBride, Elizabeth. "A Diversity Problem." Investment News (2015). Web.
Obama, Barack. A More Perfect Union. Philadelpha , 2008. Oration .
Odede, Kennedy. "Slumdog Tourism." New York Times 9 August 2010.